For a match originally due to have been played during a storm, Aberdeen might have had grounds to request a further postponement of their clash with St Johnstone.
The ill winds blowing through Pittodrie in the wake of the weekend’s events saw this one take place under dark clouds.
In practical terms, it served as little more than a placeholder. The club is in a suspended animation of sorts, waiting to see which of a number of possible courses it will be set on next, and – however many fixtures take place before a decision is reached – their sole purpose will be to keep the points tally sufficiently ticking to give the new manager solid ground from which to push on.
In the wider scheme of things, the club has bigger fish to fry than three points on a soon-forgotten February evening. The choice to be made by Aberdeen’s directors will have a huge say in how the side’s season concludes not only this year, but potentially for many more to come.
So before they decide which of the possible candidates is best equipped to deliver what they want, the board will first require to make sure that they know what that is.
Having seen what can happen when a concept appointment collides with the harsh results-driven reality, it is incumbent upon the directors to be clear whether they want a coach who will work under the same specifications as Stephen Glass (but do it better), or a manager who can sacrifice strategic vision to keep the side in the league’s top bracket.
There is an argument that, over the last three or four seasons, the permanent incumbents of Pittodrie’s dugout have each got that balance wrong, in opposite directions.
The club cannot pass its burden on to new shoulders until it is certain where that centre of gravity sits.